WEBVTT Y DIFFERENT PATH TORECOVERY. >> READY, SET, GO. KERRY: SNOW DAYS ARE ALWAYSEXCITING FOR MORGAN BAIRD.THE FIFTH GRADER ISN'T PHASED BYFALLING. >> I'M ALRIGHT.KERRY: AND SHE LIKES TO PLAYWITH HER SIBLINGS IN THE SNOW,BUT A SLEDDING TRIP AT THE AGEOF SEVEN SHOOK HER UP WHEN SHESLAMMED INTO HER SISTER. MORGAN: I KEPT GOING. I COLLIDED WITH HER AND WEBUMPED HEADS.I THREW UP A COUPLE MINUTESAFTER, THEN MY EYE STARTEDSWELLING. KERRY: A CT SCAN REVEALED THECRASH CRACKED MORGAN'S EYESOCKET, AND -- >> THEY GAVE US INSTRUCTIONSTHAT SHE HAD A CONCUSSION ANDSHE COULD RESUME NORMALACTIVITY ONCE THE SYMPTOMS WENTAWAY. KERRY: BUT AS MORGAN'S EYEHEALED, HER BEHAVIOR CHANGED,ALARMING HER MOTHER. >> HER MAIN SYMPTOM WASIRRITABILITY. IF THE LIGHTING IN THE ROOM WASTOO BRIGHT OR THE ROOM WAS TOOLOUD, HER DEMEANOR WOULD CHANGE.KERRY: LIZZY BAIRD SOUGHT HELPAT KENNEDY KRIEGER'S CONCUSSIONCLINIC WHERE DOCTORS MAPPED OUTA DETAILED RECOVERY PLAN, AND ITWENT AGAINST CONVENTIONAL WISDOMTHAT REST IS BEST. DR. STACY SUSKAUER SAYS NEWRESEARCH SHOWS STIMULATING THEBRAIN AND THE BODY UP TO ACERTAIN POINT CAN SPEEDRECOVERY. DR. SUSKAUER: WE ARE GOING TO BESENDING CHILDREN BACK TO SCHOOLWHEN THEY STILL HAVE SYMPTOMS. WE KNOW A CHILD MAY HAVE AHEADACHE, AND WHAT WE WANT TO DOIS TRY TO MAKE A SCHOOL PLANTHAT KEEPS THE HEADACHEMANAGEABLE. KERRY: THAT INCLUDES ENCOURAGINGWALKING AND OTHER NO-CONTACTEXERCISE, WHICH RULED OUT SPORTSAND SLEDDING FOR MORGAN, FOR TWOMONTHS. DR. SUSKAUER SAYS MOST SLEDDINGINJURIES SHE SEES ARE THE RESULTOF KIDS SLAMMING INTO SOMETHINGIN THEIR PATH. HER BEST ADVICE FOR PARENTS ISTO MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD AVOIDSSLEDDING ON SPOTS THAT AREEXPECIALLY STEEP, HAVEOBSTACLES, OR THE POTENTIAL TORUN INTO THE STREET. MORGAN IS BACK TO A JAM-PACKEDSPORTS SCHEDULE NOW WITH NOLASTING DAMAGE. DR. SUSKAUER IS HOPEFUL OTHERPARENTS WILL LEARN FROM MORGAN'SEXPERIENCE. DR. SUSKAUER: SOME OF THECONCUSSION INFORMATION ISCHANGING SO QUICKLY THAT ITHASN'T HAD TIME TO FILTER OUT TOPARENTS.THERE'S NO ONE TREATMENT PLANTHAT'S APPROPRIATE FOR EVERYCHILD.WE DON'T WANT TO PUSH A CHILD

Related Content

The fifth-grader isn't fazed by falling and she likes to play with her siblings in the snow. But a sledding trip when she was 7 shook her up when she slammed into her sister.

“I kept going,” Morgan said. “I collided with her and we bumped heads. I threw up a couple minutes after (the accident), then my eye started swelling.”

A CT scan revealed that the crash cracked Morgan's eye socket, and doctors told Morgan that she had a concussion and she could resume normal activities once her symptoms subsided.

But as Morgan's eye healed, her behavior changed, which alarmed her mother.

“Her main symptom was irritability,” Lizzy Baird, Morgan’s mother said. “If the lighting in the room was too bright or the room was too loud, her demeanor would change.”

Lizzy Baird sought help at the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s concussion clinic, where doctors mapped out a detailed recovery plan that went against conventional wisdom that rest is best.

Dr. Stacy Suskauer said new research shows stimulating the brain and the body up to a certain point can speed recovery.

“We are going to be sending kids back to school when they still have symptoms,” Suskauer said. “We know a child may have a headache. And what we want to do is try to make a school plan that keeps the headache manageable.”

The plan includes encouraging walking and other no-contact exercise, which ruled out sports and sledding for Morgan for two months.

Suskauer said most sledding injuries that she sees are the result of children slamming into something in their path. The doctor’s best advice for parents is to make sure children avoid sledding on spots that are especially steep or have obstacles or where there is potential to run into the street.

Morgan is back to a jam-packed sports schedule now with no lasting damage from her injury.

Suskauer is hopeful that other parents will learn from Morgan's experience.

“Some of the concussion information is changing so quickly that it hasn't had time to filter out to parents,” Suskauer said. “There's no one treatment plan that's appropriate for every child. We don't want to push a child who isn't ready or hold a child back who's ready to move forward.”